Viva Dog Vegas

My friends Sue and Maureen have been planning an eight-day road trip to Las Vegas for several months now. The three of us and all 12 of our dogs are driving down to attend the Schipperke National Specialty shows. They will be competing all week with their Schips and will be staying at the huge convention center where the shows are being held.

Mr. Bigfoot Bob, my Schip, is entered in the Rally Obedience Trial part of the shows, in one class, on one day only. My motivation for going along is not the dog show, but to visit my daughter and granddaughter who live there. I'm not much of a traveler; I haven't been away from home overnight in more than five years, so the whole thing has become a very big deal for me. Right up until the day before we were to leave, I nearly backed out because the complication of my recent fall and cracked ribs seemed overwhelming.

During the last two days of planning for our trip, I asked that there be labels on the dog crates with names of the occupants. To the untrained eye all Schipperkes look exactly alike; small, tailless, coal black, high energy dogs. We had six crates stacked in the van with two dogs in each; the pairing of the dogs was critical. I didn't want to get the dogs mixed up and return the wrong combination to a crate after walking them. Even my Tollers, when crated, look amazingly alike; the white markings on their fronts and faces are nearly identical. I think Sue and Maureen thought it unnecessary, but humored me.

Last Saturday morning at 7 a.m. they came rolling into the yard with nine dogs and what appeared to be an already full van. As the girls exited the vehicle I started laughing; they had not only labeled the dog crates, but had labels on their own foreheads saying "Sue" and "Maureen." That, right there, relieved the tension and actual dread I had been feeling, setting a happy tone for the trip. We did a drive-thru breakfast in Marysville and didn't stop again for nearly five hours, at which time we spent about an hour at one of the great freeway rest areas walking, watering and airing all the dogs.

Once back on the road we filled up on gas and didn't stop again until we got to the last freeway rest area just outside Las Vegas, to walk, water and air us three women. During the 12-hour road trip we never heard a peep, whine or bark out of the dogs. To my non-dog-show-friends who thought I was crazy to take such a trip, I must say travelling with well behaved, well socialized and trained dogs is a joy. I can't stress enough the benefits of crate training when raising a puppy.

My daughter is an Air Force wife whose husband is currently deployed overseas. They have a nice home in Vegas with a small, but kid- and dog-friendly yard. She currently has a housemate who owns a large, neutered male Staffy (American Staffordshire Terrier or pit bull) mix. I was supremely surprised when she told me about living with Bowser because Katie is a cat person, not overly fond of dogs.

Bowser is a very nice dog and I'm glad he's there; two women and a child living in Vegas need some security around the house. Believe me when I say no one, even a crazed criminal, would consider for a moment breaking into a house with a formidable creature such as Bowser on the premises. He looks dangerous, but in reality is a well-trained, well behaved, sweet-natured gentle giant.

We arrived around 7 p.m. Saturday evening and pretty much invaded Katie's home! She continues to be especially gracious, freely opening her home and yard to a bunch of crazy dog people and their 12 dogs. We spent a couple hours letting all the dogs run in the yard as we unloaded and repacked the van. I'm staying here at Katie's with my three dogs, Bobby, Chili and Topper, as well as two of Maureen's, Brutus and Dewey.

We rearranged the garage to accommodate five dog crates, their food and gear, then the girls left for their motel with the other seven dogs. I haven't, yet, gone over to the convention center, but Sue and Maureen spent all day yesterday, from 8 a.m. until after 6 p.m. rushing from ring to ring showing all the dogs in different classes. Bobby and I don't go into the Rally Excellent ring until Wednesday morning.

I anticipated the heat in Vegas, but as it turns out, it hasn't been hot at all; in fact as I write this at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, the air temperature is only 64 degrees. The problem for me is the fierce wind; I swear poor little Bob Dog was blown sideways a couple of steps when he first went outside. The dogs stand into the wind with their noses twitching wildly. Who knows what sort of information they are gathering? Do they get mental pictures of other dogs? I would love to spend one minute inside my dogs' heads!

Rebecca Settergren is an AKC approved CGC Evaluator, a member of the Dog Writers Association of America and a contributing columnist to the Post. Visit Out With The Dogs on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TailsWag